Aquatic amusement apparatus



AQUATI C AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Filed Aug. 11, 1928 8 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR Dec. 29, 1931. D DI LEONARDO AQUATIC AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Filed Aug. 11, 1928 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESSES (ll/WM Dec. 29, 1931. D, [3 LEONARDO 1,838, 3OU

AQUATIC AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Filed Aug. 11, 1928 8 Sheets-Shem 3 INVENTOR [37 W Mv WITNESSES wail/ W Filed Aug. 11, 1928 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR WITNESSES Dec. 29, 1931. D] LEONARDO 1,838,300

AQUATIC AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Filed Aug. 11, 1928 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR 6104, y IMIW Filed Aug. 11, 1928 8 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR Dec. 29, 1931. D D! LEONARDqj 1,838,300

AQUATI C AMUS EMENT APPARATUS Filed Aug. 11, 1928 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 WITNESSES INVENTOR WW W at W @7 mw Patented Dec. 29, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT eel-ice ma ma r L ONARDO, or. ri'r'rsB ne-n PENNSYLVANIA "j AQUATIC 'AMUSEMENQ ArrABAzeUs Application filed August 11, 192a Serial: No. ass-ear.

' E through the Water in Such a way as to provide them with sensation similar to that enjoyed when swimming or riding on a surf board or the like. 7

Other objects of the invention will apparent when the following detailed 'description is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 illustrates a pla'n view of a merry-gosround type of structure embodying'the invention; Fig. 2 a cross sectional view taken on the line IIII of Fig. 1; Fig, 3 a top plan view of one o t pa senger ea s ar i d by h supporting structure shown in Figs; 1 and 2; Fig. 4 a side elevational view of the seat in its upper and lower positions; Fig. illustrates another modification of the invention in which the passenger carrying seats are supported. on floats and are propelled through the water by a motorboat or some other similardevice; Fig, 6 a fragmentary plan view of one of the fioats shown in Fig. 5 illustrating a passenger carrying seat adjustably attached to the pontoons, forming 450 shown in Fig. 6 showing the seat in its raised and submerged po'sitionsfand Fig. 8 a sectional view take on the lin VllI VlIl, 9

In: accordance wi h h invc ti r ti -a u ement; app ra u of; the ab v d sc ib d char.- a t i provide W th as SuPPQrting W ture adapted to be moved relative 00 a body of water. This may take various forms such ablylniounted on a fired pier attached to the beco ne r 91 he t p tp er the float; Fig. 7 an end view of the float 7 w as a. m'erry-gorround type of structure rotatbot m. of. a P 01 or upo a suitably; anchored flo ting P r; or t may ta th o me a af or ee The pesseng seats are e i mblx mou e hat th y m y be were te or V raised but of the water while they are in mo:

tion. They ar als adapt to e adil s ed at ither the inst nce;oft he qper tq f r a the w of the pas eng r r di g i the seats They are constructed'in such a'inanner that wate wi l r di y w rsetl o sh t em and arouudt eoccupah s arr edtherein- Hence passenge m y e bmerge the water w ile r d ng n th s app rat s t any desired dept s w th n t e limits of t e apparatus itself and accordingly en j 0y the exhilaratits ensat on f b ing dis/W111 r g t e te 0110 eing lower n o t o r ised cu ofth Wate le o ng h ug it Re err ng; igs 3 an f h drivings, the invention is] illustrated as en h di din amerry go-r und yp s uc ur compri ing. a spid h ike t pp rting heel 1 pr vi d a it ente with, $1 .11- 0 en er bea ing 2 w ic is ota ably m unted up ua, be r ng s pport d p sed 1 .91

pier 5. or s m su table p d supporting structure which may be secured to th'ehottoin of a pool or disposed on a float anchored in a deep'b dy itra To. ffect e mov men of. sp de n el ric mo or .1 some suitab driving mechanism maybe suitably geared to the s ,icler oradapted to drive a drive wheel 2 he' evel e tofthespid ri fa ilitated and its proper balance maiiitainedby mounting a plurali y twhee 's 8 on its under near ts Qute periph ry in Sucha Way tha ey Wil r de on a o t uo s t a 7 oca e di i g s a s p-P rting. mem rs 10 betw wh h he passe ger ca rying ats. 11 ar struc ed la ticew rk fa hion asillus- .tre d'so' hat when t y are w d, th wate w l freely c ula e, bQu th pass ners rid ngi n them,

, I] order o per'mlt sea s. ll t b ertically adjus edi h re pect t e support ng Structu e, they a er id y mo nted n ai t m comprising vertical supporting members 1 2,

emanat Thes ets a e i r tera ly Qn- 13, 14 and 15 which have their upper ends attached to adjoining radiating supporting members 10 of the spider. They are made rigid at their bottoms by cross member 16 and separator 17 disposed between vertical supporting members of adjacent frames. Bifurcated hanger arms 18, 19 and 21 are suitably attached to the front and back respectively of each seat for mounting them in their respective supporting frames. At the outer ends of each of these hanger arms there are provided rollers 22 and 23 which travel along the supporting members and reduce the effort necessary to move the seats up and down.

A fluid pressure actuated cylinder 24 is attached to each seat-supporting frame near its bottom and at the back of each seat by means of brackets 25. Each cylinder is provided with a piston and piston rod 26, connected to hanger arms 21 on the back of each seat by means of rods 27 and 28, whereby the seat will be moved in accordance with the movement of piston rod 26.

Fluid pressure, such as compressed air, is introduced into the bottom of cylinder 24 at 29 through a pipe 31 which may be connected to a'pressure main 32 located on the spider and which in turn is connected to a pressure reservoir 33 in which the proper pressure is maintained by a compressor 34:.

In order that the seats 11 may be raised and lowered at the will of the operator, who will preferably be located in pilot house 35 disposed in the center of the seat supporting spider, a master control valve such as valve 36 may be provided in the main supply fluid pressure line. Also in order that the seats may be adjusted by the occupants riding in them, an auxiliary valve 37 may be suitably interposed in the pressure line adjacent to each seat near the top of the cylinder as illus trated in Fig. 4.

For the purpose of aiding the passengers in gettting into and out of the seats and also insuring their safety while doing so, a guard rail 38 is mounted around the oute periphery of spider 1. A passenger platform 39 may also be suitably located adjacent to the spider as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2.

Around the outer edge of the pontoons on each of the units is provided a guide rail to aid the passengers in getting into and out 'of the seats. These seats may take the same form as the ones described hereinbefore. They are mounted for vertical adjustment by being supported in a frame consisting of supporting rods 45 and 46 positioned on each end of each seat at its front and back respectively and attached to the sides of the pontoons. Han er arms A7, 48 and 49 are attached to the front and back of each seat respectively and slidably mounted on rods 45 and a6. As described in the previous type of apparatus a fluid pressure actuated cylinder 51 and piston 52 are attached to the front and bottom of the seat respectively for effecting its adjustment, but in this case the cylinder is inverted and mounted at the upper end of the seat supporting frame, the piston being attached to the bottom of the seat by arm 53. The compressed air for actuating piston 52 is introduced into cylinder 51 by means of pipe 56 which may be supplied from a source of compressed air located upon the towing apparatus 40. Valve 57 may be interposed in the pressure line adjacent to each cylinder so that a passenger may regulate the pressure in the cylinder to adjust the seat in the water as he desires. Also a master valve may be disposed in the pressure line on the towing apparatus so that the operator of the apparatus can adjust the seats in-the same manner as pre viously described. Consequently the seats in this case may also be regulated or adjusted at the will of either the operator or the passengers carried in the seats.

While the later modification of the invention is shown as being propelled by a power driven boat, it may be otherwise propelled through the water, and while shown with a number of units connected together in a particular way, any number or combination of units may be used to make up the train.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, 1 have explained the principle and mode of operation of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically shown and described.

I claim:

1. An aquatic amusement apparatus, comprising a seat supporting structure adapted for movement relative to a body of water, a seat for carrying passengers adjustably attached to said supporting structure, fluid pressure means attached to said supporting structure and said seat for lowering and raising said seat into and out of the water, a source of fluid pressure for said fluid pressure means, and means for controlling said pressure. i

2. An aquatic amusement apparatus comprising a seat supporting structure adapted for movement relative to a body of water, a 1

seat for carrying passengers adjustably attached to said supporting structure, a cylinder and piston cooperatively connected to said structure and said seat, a source of fluid pressure, means for introducing said pressure into said cylinder for lowering or raising said seat into or out of the water, and means for moving the supporting structur relative to the water.

3. An aquatic amusement apparatus comprising a seat supporting structure adapted for movement relative to a body of water, a

, seat for carrying passengers adjustably attached to said structure, said seat being constructed in a manner to permit waterto readily flow through it, fluid pressure actuated means for lowering or raising said seat into or'out of the water,:means adapted to be operated by the operator of the apparatus for effecting the lowering or raising of the seats into and out of the water, and also means adapted to be operated by a passenger in the seat for accomplishing the same result.

4. An aquatic amusement apparatus comprising a seat supporting structure adapted for movement relative to a body of water,

a seat for carrying passengers adjustably attached to said structure, fluid pressure means cooperating withsaid structure and said supporting structure for lowering. or raising the seat into or out of the water, a source of fluid pressure, means for communicating said pressure to said pressure actuated means, and means for controlling said pressure.

5. An aquatlc amusement apparatus, comprising a seat supporting structurefadapted to be moved relative to the surface of a body of water, an open work seat adjustably attached to said supporting structure for vertical movement, means for guiding the vertical movement of the seat and means controllable at the will of the occupant of the seat for raising and lowering the seat.

6. An aquaticamusement apparatus, comprising a seat-supporting structure adapted to be moved relative to the'suritaceof a body of water, an open-work seat adjustably at tached to said supporting structure for vertical movement, means for raising and lowering said seat in said supporting structure, means for guiding the vertical movement of theseat, andmeans controllable at the will of the operator for setting said seat raising and.

lowering means in operation.

In testlmony whereof, I sign my name.

DOMINIG r LEONARDO. 

